Noun

(en noun) (wikipedia desk)

A table, frame, or case, usually with sloping top, but often with flat top, for the use of writers and readers. It often has a drawer or repository underneath.

* , chapter=5

, title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=Here, in the transept and choir, where the service was being held, one was conscious every moment of an increasing brightness; colours glowing vividly beneath the circular chandeliers, and the rows of small lights on the choristers' desks flashed and sparkled in front of the boys' faces, deep linen collars, and red neckbands.}}

A reading table or lectern to support the book from which the liturgical service is read, differing from the pulpit from which the sermon is preached; also (especially in the United States), a pulpit. Hence, used symbolically for the clerical profession.

Noun

(vanities)

That which is vain, futile, or worthless; that which is of no value, use or profit.

*

Excessive pride in or admiration of one's own abilities, appearance or achievements.

A dressing table used to apply makeup, preen, and coif hair. The table is normally quite low and similar to a desk, with drawers and one or more mirrors atop. Either a chair or bench is used to sit upon.

Emptiness.

(obsolete) Any idea, theory or statement that is without foundation.

* It is a vanity to say that if two stones are dropped from a tower, the heavier will experience the greater acceleration.

* Francis Bacon

To help the matter, the alchemists call in many vanities out of astrology.